One passenger said on Twitter: "Screens not working ⁦@Gatwick_Airport⁩ !!! Hope everyone manages to get to the gates on time. Poor staff shouting out the destinations!!"

Another wrote: "Absolute shambles @Gatwick_Airport this morning. Why wouldn’t you make an announcement to let people know the screens were not working?!

"Instead of tiny white board that no one can see from behind a crowd #inefficient"

And one traveller posted: "Serious whiteboard based business continuity going on in Gatwick. All flight information screens down.

"Poor chap with a 2-way radio trying to keep it up to date with hundreds looking on."

@LIZMEZZO/@GERMANCLAVIJOUK/TWITTER

@IMRAN033/TWITTER

@LIZMEZZO/TWITTER

The flight screens have reportedly been down since the early hours of the morning, with Gatwick blaming an "IT issue" by its provider Vodafone.

The airport posted a statement on Twitter earlier, saying: "We are sorry, but due to an IT issue our flight information is not displaying correctly.

"Please use the temporary flight boards in the departure lounges or listen for airline flight announcements.

"We are expecting to resolve the issue soon and apologise for the inconvenience."

In an updated statement at 11.15pm – six hours after the screens failed – they said: Due to an ongoing issue with Vodafone - an IT provider for the airport - our flight information screens are not displaying correctly.